I hope this finds you all well & refreshed for the new week! Addressing more of your questions:

[ RANDOM PICTURES ]

Lisa asked about how to scrapbook random pictures that she receives from loved ones throughout the year. I have a couple ways to address that question. First of all, we have a collection of albums that are entirely dedicated to the baby, wedding, and graduation announcements that we receive. These pages are 100% simple. You won’t find a single sticker or accent or rub-on anywhere in these books. What you will find is page after page of “life announcements” from friends & family, each one adhered to a sheet of 8 1/2″ x 11″ cardstock and placed in a page protector. These are chronologically organized in 3-ring albums. Note: Each announcement has a small block of text explaining the person’s relationship to us (for example, “Tanner is David’s cousin” or “Carol is Becky’s college dorm neighbor” or “We met the Mickelsons when we lived in Ohio”). I think this is important so that anyone looking through these albums will always be able to tell who these people are and why we received their announcements.

My second approach to your question, Lisa, is about those random pictures that are NOT associated with announcements. So these are the look-at-how-little-Joey-has grown type of pictures or the ones you get from Grandma since she doesn’t use e-mail, etc. What about creating a layout (or however many you need) each year that holds all of these random pictures that you don’t want to toss? Maybe you could call it “Keeping in Touch: Miscellaneous pictures from loved ones this year”. This way you’re creating a theme out of pictures that don’t otherwise have a commonality.

I’m really practical when it comes to titles, by the way. I just like to say it like it is.

[ CHICKEN NOODLE CASSEROLE ]

I think it was Amy who requested this recipe. I LOVE this casserole dish and have eaten it every Christmas Eve since I can remember. And who doesn’t love thinking about Christmas in the summer, right?

You need:

4 pieces of chicken breasts, cooked & cubed
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. chopped green pepper
Margarine
3 Tbsp. flour
1 1/4 c. milk
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 sm. jar of pimentos
2 cans (8 oz. total) sliced mushroom pieces
stuffing mix (I prefer Peppridge Farm brand)

Cook chicken first (boil) and allow to cool. Cut into pieces and set aside. Cook noodles. In a saucepan, saute onion and green pepper in margarine. Make a white sauce of 3 Tbsp. margarine, flour and milk. Combine sauce with onion and green pepper mixture and bring to a boil. Add cream of chicken, pimentos, mushrooms and chicken. Combine this with the noodles. Place in casserole and sprinkle with stuffing mix. Dot with margarine. Bake for 1/2 hour at 350, until bubbly and lightly brown on top.

I’m making this for dinner tomorrow night for sure! Thanks for inspiring me.

[ PERSONAL SCRAPBOOKING ]

Someone asked about how often I work on my personal scrapbooking. One of the great aspects of my job (there are many; I am blessed) is that most of the pages, layouts, and projects that I create for articles/books/classes are ultimately for me & my family. So in a sense, I’m doing my “personal scrapbooking” on just about a daily basis.

But I think what you’re asking about is the stuff that I do that is not work-related at all. In that case, I sometimes go months without getting to do much with personal scrapbooking. I very rarely scrapbook in my “spare time” these days. My spare time is family time … or date night or catching up with e-mail or hanging out with friends or going for walks or swimming with the kiddos.

BUT (and this is the key) … I SCHEDULE it in. I’m trying to get back on track with doing this every month or so. “Scrapbook Night” with my girlfriends. In fact, there’s one this week. My friends come over, we have a variety of munchies, we enjoy each others’ company, and maybe – just maybe – we’ll get some work done. The key for me is to PLAN AHEAD.

[ PLANNING AHEAD ]

Have you ever gone to a crop with a box full of pictures, a couple totes worth of scrapbook supplies, and really good intentions on getting some layouts done? And then you get there, you start pulling out a few photos, and you immerse yourself in catching up with your friends for hours. And by 11:00 pm, you’re sitting there with the same scattered pictures in front of you. Raise your hand or giggle at your desk a little bit if this is you.

This is going back to the practical side of me. I love socializing, and sometimes I love it even more if I can get something done at the same time. (This reminds me of my friend Tina who can’t watch TV unless she’s folding laundry at the same time.)

The solution? I always have a few layouts “ready to go”, whether I’m preparing for Scrapbook Night at my house or if I’m going to scrapbook somewhere else. This means the pictures are photoshopped & printed and I have chosen the cardstock, papers & other supplies that I plan to use, even a sketch of how to layout the pages.

Preparing in advance means I don’t have to THINK about what I’m doing with the pictures while I’m also being social and engaging in conversation. I seriously have issues with multi-tasking sometimes, so this is important. For example, here’s a layout I have prepped to do this week.

Uh oh. Now you know that I HAVE to get this layout done! I love challenges, so I’ll consider this my challenge and promise to post the layout later this week.